Mission San Xavier del Bac (B&W)
Uploaded: July 07, 2012
f/8, 1/60 sec, ISO 200; ; EF 24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm
Exif: F Number: 8, Exposure Bias Value: 0.00, ExposureTime: 1/60 seconds, Flash: did not fire, compulsory flash mode, ISO: 200, White balance: Manual white balance, FocalLength: 70.00 mm, Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Stephen Shoff July 07, 2012
Here you go, Dale...a "two 'fer". The "up with the sun" and "angles" challenges.Besides the strong graphics of this architecture, my photographic intent was to capture dimensionality using the light. Don't think I quite pulled that part off in the B&W conversion. #1473464
Stephen Shoff July 07, 2012
for those of you at prefer, and with a little better dimensionality, here is color version. #10217846
Susan M. Reynolds
July 07, 2012
Stephen Shoff July 07, 2012
Susan, you're back! Good to hear from you again.This is an old church outside of Tucson, AZ. #10218237
Susan M. Reynolds
July 07, 2012
Aimee C. Eisaman July 07, 2012
The contrast of light in this image is awesome...love it! :~) I can't decide between the color and bw because they convey such different ideas in my opinion. In the black and white one I'm drawn to the fact that the edge of the photo and the edge of the building are not parallel though. I'm not sure how much room you have available to correct that. It's there in the color version of course, but with all the elements of color and light I'm not focused on it as much. #10218441
Michael Kelly
July 07, 2012
Susan because I have been off I did not realize that you are just back. A big welcome back from me too. #10218451
Stephen Shoff July 07, 2012
Susan -- I can agree with your comments. There does seem to be more depth in the color version, and the colors work very well together and the color contrast adds its own strengthens the to image. I also think it conveys a "quality of light" message better than the B&W.Aimee -- you're correct, the lines aren't parallel, particularly the outside wall of the tower. In buildings of this type and age, the walls are actually tapered, so I felt it would have been, at the very least, self-defeating to "square" my image using the outside lines. I did use the grid lines and perspective tools to straighten the image (Dale), but I focused more on horizontals and interior verticals rather than the outside verticals. Even so, careful examination will show that even the horizontals aren't parallel with themselves. Such is to be expected in a 400-yr-old building built by a lay architect using unskilled, indigenous labor on the frontiers of the civilized world. Not sure I want to edit all that "character" out.
Mike, I had a hard time getting those patches of sky to show through identifiably as sky, since the color quality wasn't there to provide identification. Any time I tried to decrease the sky (not that I wanted to, by the way), I felt like I was losing the open arches in the towers. #10218503
Dale Hardin July 07, 2012
Thanks for giving me another place to visit when I travel to Arizona again Stephen.I'm in the "prefer the color" camp on this one, mainly because the color helps give it more depth. I think the blk an wht idea would have worked had the POV been at an angle so that the corner of the building was in the foreground with one side shadowed and sunlit on the other. #10218684
Jeff E Jensen July 07, 2012
Yup, I agree that the color version works best, but the B&W ain't too shabby either. #10218691Stephen Shoff July 07, 2012
You mean one like this, Dale? Mike might have less objection to the high-contrast sky on this one, too. It has cleaner lines at the top of the tower. #10218855Beth Spencer July 07, 2012
I like them all but the last one the very best!! I like the first one, but think the contrast is over done. It is a very interesting building. I am glad you said where it is. #10218869Dale Hardin July 07, 2012
Now you're cooking with gas Stephen. Perfect. #10219086Aimee C. Eisaman July 08, 2012
Oooo I really like that last bw post! :~) #10219578
Rita K. Connell
July 08, 2012
but boy do I like your last post, pov is much more interesting the lighting is better for the black and white. great job! #10219899
Michael Kelly
July 08, 2012
Debbie E. Payne July 09, 2012
Stephen -- By the time I got to this, about all I have to say is, "Ditto". The color version speaks to me in ways the black and white doesn't but the second black and white is perfect. Good to see exciting images coming from you again. #10221489Stephen Shoff July 09, 2012
Thank you all for your comments. I can certainly agree with the general consensus that the color version of the original post is stronger than the B&W. Since I was posting this for the monthly theme, angles and 3-dimensionality, I left the 2nd post as B&W only.I can also agree with you that, like Rita's more recent submission, the second image with all of its additional lines, angles and complexity holds a lot more interest than the original.
I think it may be bigger stretch, Debbie, to rate my images as "exciting". But thank you. I know I've been negligent in my participation lately, and that may last while longer. But I'll try to be a little more consistent. I am looking forward to meeting many of you in D.C.
My few comments...
-- while I'm gratified with the overwhelming reaction to the 2nd image, I think the first has a couple of unique technical qualities that increase its appeal to me. I think it has a little more "quality of light" content. I think the tonal separation between the exterior surfaces and the internal surfaces provides more depth in the internal structures of the tower. Then there is the rim light along the left edges -- a subtle effect that is less common than the broad expanses of tonal variation of the 2nd post.
--There was also general consensus on the contrast, but interestingly focused on the original post. I'm not going to "apologize" for the darkness of sky which will have varying appeal to viewers. I'll just leave it as "Peter" explanation that that is deliberate interpretive intent on my part in the style of a recognized "master". However, I will point out that my process for creating the second image was to follow the same post-processing regimen as I used on original. I actually copied the adjustment layers, layer-for-layer, from the original to the second. With one exception, the only change made per layer was to delete and re-add the layer masks to fit the contours of the second image. That one exception in the second image was to replace a "multiply" layer to reduce the highlights on sunlit side with a shadow/hilite layer that allowed me to both reduce the highlights and open up the shadows on the lower left facade and the doorway/balcony at the bottom. So to the best of my ability, there is no contrast difference between the two images, with noted exception.
When I go to print these for my local club print competition, I will probably select the 2nd for the B&W categories. #10222278
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